


The Garden

by dooklarue



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), Wander Over Yonder (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, The power of friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:56:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21009338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dooklarue/pseuds/dooklarue
Summary: Wander and Sylvia come across a mostly-abandoned garden planet and try to make friends with the sole resident.





	The Garden

"Hey, what's that little planet down there?" Wander pointed to a planet in the distance.

"No idea, you want to check it out?" Sylvia replied, knowing exactly what his answer would be. As they neared, they could see the vestiges of a courtyard, but the thick carpet of vines made it clear that it was long since abandoned.

"Looks like it's been five, six thousand years since anybody took care of this place," Wander estimated, his eyes wide with fascination. Sylvia glanced at him, a little bit taken aback by the specificity of his statement.

"Guess so," she agreed, figuring that she didn't have any better guesses. "Wonder why they left?"

"Maybe we'll find out," Wander said cheerfully. Sylvia sighed. Knowing their luck, they would find out in the worst kind of way.

They touched down and began trampling their way through what was once a path, probably, admiring the greenery despite the inconvenience of it. Wander picked a flower and tucked it in the band of his hat, then picked another one and put it in Sylvia's mane. She rolled her eyes, but smiled at him nonetheless.

"Hey, is that a person?" He asked suddenly.

"A person? Buddy, you said yourself, nobody's been here for a long time. Maybe it's a statue or-"

"Nope, that's a person! Helloooo person! What are you doing there?" He leaped off Sylvia's back and darted over to the stranger. They looked like some sort of jester, or maybe a character from an old cartoon. They looked exhausted, and the vines around their feet suggested that they had been in this spot for longer than any person probably should be, but they were definitely alive. They cocked their head to the side curiously, looking as if they weren't sure they were allowed to speak.

"I'm.. I'm playing a game, with Pink," they finally explained. "Pink Diamond. Do you know her?" Wander thought for a moment. He didn't think he knew anyone named Pink Diamond, but he instinctively knew that this answer would be disappointing, so he desperately tried to recall anything that might help.

"Can't say I do, sorry. Maybe your friend goes by another name? You know, most folks call me Wander nowadays, but it used to be Tumbleweed, and before that-"

"No. No, Pink Diamond would never call herself anything else." The stranger sighed, then gave Wander a smile that felt very forced. "Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Spinel." She extended her hand, which Wander happily shook.

"Spinel? Sounds like a lovely name for a new friend!" She winced. "Um, say, what kind of game are you playing anyway?" He glanced at her feet, still literally rooted to the ground. "I hope I'm not interfering."

"No, no you're not, I don't think..." She grit her teeth. "I don't know, I'd never played this game before, but she said- she said to stand right here, until she came back. She said it would be fun." Her forced grin widened to the point where it looked almost painful. "I hope she's having fun out there, wherever she went!!"

"Sounds like you got stood up, big time," Sylvia muttered from behind him. Both Wander and Spinel stared at her in shock.

"Um, and this is my pal Sylvia! She's just, uh.." He jerked his head towards her with a nervously pleading smile. "She didn't mean that," he hastily apologized.

"No, no no no, maybe she's right," Spinel murmured, tears welling in her eyes. "Maybe I've been a fool. Waiting for six thousand years.. I really don't know what I was thinking." Where there had been only sadness and helpless confusion, now fury was seeping into her voice. Wander shot Sylvia a look that was remarkably withering, at least for him.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't think..." She trailed off, watching as Spinel put her hand on the heart-shaped gemstone embedded in her chest. She had no idea what its significance was, but she could tell that it was important.

"I have to find her," she growled, ignoring the fumbling apology. "After all, it's only fair to tell my best friend when I don't want to play with her anymore, right?" She punctuated this with a bitter laugh. Wander chewed at his claws anxiously. He didn't like the bluntness of Sylvia's assessment, and he certainly didn't like Spinel's reaction to it, but he was inclined to agree with the message: this 'Pink Diamond' did not sound like a very good friend. "But I've looked like this for six thousand years, maybe it's time to switch it up a bit before I do."

"Makeover time?" Wander guessed. It sounded like a good idea to him; after all this time, a nice refresher could really be what she needed.

"You could say that." She buried her hand in her chest, clawing the stone out. It looked like it hurt, but she laughed through her tears. She stood perfectly still for a moment, just holding the gem out in front of her, then suddenly disappeared like a popped bubble. The gem stayed behind, and Wander caught it moments before it hit the ground.

"What just happened?" Sylvia asked, feeling deeply guilty for her part in provoking Spinel but simultaneously baffled by the strange display.

"I'm not sure," Wander replied sadly, petting the gem as if to reassure it somehow. "I think she's alive, somehow, I can just feel it. But she... She's real hurt."

"I didn't realize I was going to make her do- whatever that was. Grop, I feel bad now. What can we do to make this right?" Wander shook his head.

"I'm running on hunches here, Syl, I don’t know anything you don’t.” She recoiled guiltily. Of course he didn’t. She considered apologizing again, but then stopped herself, knowing it wouldn’t do anything at this point. Besides, she had to believe in Wander’s hunch that Spinel would be back, that she could make things right eventually. “Hey, it’s alright. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yeah. You know, I'm real glad I've got a friend like you." He grinned and hugged her with one arm, the other clutching the gemstone close to his chest.

"Me too." The gem began to shake. It slipped right out of Wander's hand, but instead of falling to the ground, it rose. He quickly caught it. Sylvia blinked and looked to him. Her instincts told her that something was wrong, but they always tended towards the cynical. He seemed to think this was a good development, so she trusted him. “I bet it’s the power of friendship, it’s luring our new friend right back in!” She was incredibly tempted to give him a sarcastic reply, but after all the ridiculous things they’d been through, maybe the power of friendship really was just what they needed right now.

“You think so?” He nodded and pulled Sylvia into a full hug, the gem pressed between them.

“It’s gotta be!” She chuckled.

“Alright, I trust you.” The hug was definitely doing  _ something _ ; the gem shook much more violently. Suddenly, they were forced apart as something blindingly white and approximately Spinel-shaped formed itself around the gem. Then she was standing there again, albeit having adjusted her appearance. Her perfectly heart-shaped hair buns were now loose, scruffy pigtails, and her eyes were shadowed by tear streaks. The gem had returned to its place in her chest, though it was upside down now.

"I love your new look," Wander said cheerfully, then impulsively added, "I'm sure Pink will too!" Spinel narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in some more, why don't you? 'Cause you've got your  _ power of friendship _ , and I've got nothing." Wander winced as if the accusation had physically hurt him.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that, friendship’s for everybody!” This apparently did not satisfy Spinel.

“Ha, I’m sure. Everybody except me, huh?” She sneered.

“No, you too! Why- I’d love to be your friend! And Syl too! We’ll be your friends!” Sylvia had her reservations about this, actually; something about her “new friend” reminded her a bit too much of someone else she knew. She wasn’t about to  _ say _ this, of course, but it was apparent enough in her face.

“Hmm. You want to check in with your best friend first, before you go around making big claims like that?" He visibly deflated, already knowing what the problem was, then turned to Sylvia.

""I'm sorry," Sylvia blurted before Wander even got the chance to say something to her. Spinel smiled, but there was something behind it that wasn't quite right. "I do want to be your friend! I'm just- you know, uh..."

"I don't know, actually," she replied coolly. "Explain it. Why don't'cha trust me?"

"Please, don't fight, we can all be friends, I promise!" The tension was thick enough to cut with a blade, and Wander was so unsettled by it that he couldn’t help but insert himself between them. “Hey, why don’t we all do something fun together? Nothing like a good icebreaker to, well, to break the ice!”

“Yeah, buddy, good thinking,” Sylvia quickly agreed. She knew this tone too well, the frantic, impassioned speech that preceded disaster if not handled appropriately. Besides, she did  _ want _ to get along with her “new friend”, even if she had a feeling that it was going to be one heck of a challenge. Spinel thought about this, her arm spiraling into a spring shape as she exaggeratedly scratched her head over it.

“Gee, you’d really want to do something with me? Well, howsabout hide and seek, then?” Wander beamed. He loved hide and seek, and this planet looked like it had so many good hiding places.

“My new friend, there is  _ nothing _ I would love more.”

“Sure, sounds good,” Sylvia agreed.

“Alright then. I’ll count to twenty, and you two can go hide!” She buried her face in her hands and began counting. Wander and Sylvia nodded at each other, then set off in opposite directions to find their hiding places.

Wander scaled a tree, clinging close to the trunk so that he wouldn’t be easily sighted through the foliage. He could have giggled with excitement, but he stayed quiet to protect his hiding place.

Sylvia had less luck, finding quite a few areas that would make a decent place for someone smaller than her, but not many that would accommodate a nearly eight-foot-tall zbornak. She eventually came across what looked to have once been a fountain, though it had long since dried up. She jumped down into the basin and curled up around the diamond-shaped central pillar.

“Eighteen, nineteen… Twenty! Ready or not…  _ Oh _ . They’re gone.” She laughed loudly, nervously. “That’s how hide and seek works, silly me!” She was clearly trying to reassure herself, though the way her voice trembled suggested that it was not working as intended.

Wander squirmed from his perch in the tree, wanting to jump down and reassure her, but he remained still. After all, their friendship was riding on this game. She was clearly insecure, if he gave up on the game, she might think he was giving up on her.

The squeaking of clown shoes indicated that she was walking around, though the pattern of her footsteps seemed less like a search and more like aimless pacing. At one point she came so close to Wander’s tree that he could see her through the branches. She sighed, pounded an oversized fist against it, and walked away again.

“How stupid,” she muttered to herself. “Hide and seek? I might as well have just  _ told _ ‘em to abandon me! Gee, I’m sure bad at this!” She laughed, much louder than she needed to, then dissolved into soft crying. Wander dragged his hands down his face anxiously. Listening to people cry always made his skin crawl. It was bearable when he could at least say that he was helping, but like this? He just couldn’t take it.

“We didn’t leave! We’re here, don’t worry!!” He jumped out of the tree and crashed into her, hugging her tight. She tensed, but didn’t fully react. She looked like she wanted to throttle him and hug him simultaneously, and the warring desires froze her on the spot.

“Oh.” Wander couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying now. “I guess you are, huh.” He didn’t let her go; he wasn’t sure whether she wanted him to or not, but staying put felt like the safer option. She leaned into him and relaxed, her arms hanging in a loose pile at her feet as if the weight of gravity had actually stretched them out.

“Yeah! Now, I don’t know what all happened to you- before, but I don’t wanna leave you like that.” She stiffened again.

“You don’t,” she echoed. “What about your pal there? Did she ditch us?”

“Sylvia? No, never! Why, we’re the best of friends.”

“So were Pink and I,” she muttered bitterly. Wander wasn’t sure what he could say about Pink, so he didn’t respond directly to this.

“She’s probably still hiding. We were playing hide and seek, after all.” Spinel rocked back on her feet thoughtfully.

“Probably?”

“No, I didn’t mean- I know she is, I’m sure of it.”

“How do you know? ‘Cause  _ I _ think you got stood up.” He frowned. He knew Sylvia wouldn’t leave him, he just knew, but he couldn’t prove that. Not to her, anyway.

“Well,” he said with an air of finality, “I guess we should look, then! Here, we can look together.” She shook her head, but took his extended hand in hers and let him lead her around.

“You’re wasting your time,” she told him as they walked. “And mine too. You know, people like us are disposable. If she’s not gone yet, it’s only a matter of time.”

“Wh- I don’t believe that’s true at all! Everybody’s special in their own way, and everybody’s worth something!” Spinel scoffed, unable to meet his concerned gaze. “What makes you think a thing like that?”

“We’re funny,” she said. “Amusing. Cute. Trusting.  _ Endearingly stupid _ . But sooner or later the joke gets old, they get sick of the antics, and what’s left?”

“Lasting bonds and a healthy respect for one another?” Wander guessed, knowing this wasn’t the answer she was looking for. She gave him a bitter pity laugh that only made him feel worse about it.

They walked in contemplative silence, and had made it halfway across the planet when Wander spotted a fountain that looked like it had some real potential as a hiding place. “C’mere,” he called. Spinel rushed over and peered in.

“Well, what do you know.” She had genuinely believed that Sylvia was gone, so seeing her there came as a shock to her. But there she was, sitting down in the fountain, smiling up at them.

“You got me,” she said as she climbed out. “Nice job.” Wander helped her up and pulled her into a big hug.

“I’m so glad I have you,” Wander murmured into her chest. He trusted Sylvia, but Spinel’s words had gotten under his skin on some level, and he was so relieved that she was still there.

“Hey, me too, buddy.” He lifted his head up slightly to better whisper in her ear.

“Could I ask you to give Spinel a hug too?” She blinked, surprised by the discreet request, but nodded.

“Of course,” she replied, breaking away from him and looking to Spinel, who was standing awkwardly and looking relatively put-off by the display of affection. “Hey, buddy, get in here!” She pointed to herself hesitantly. “Yeah, Spinel, you’re our friend, right?” She was still for a moment more, processing and weighing her options, before wrapping both Sylvia and Wander into the biggest bear hug imaginable.

When she finally released them, she was grinning through tears. Sylvia gave her a comforting pat on the back and a crooked, apologetic smile. Spinel nodded, understanding. Though her heart ached, she was so glad they’d found her.  



End file.
